Week 7

I commented on Matt Miller's blog today!

Week 7

Chapter 10 of Public relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed

Drew, S. (2001) Oral Presentations (pp 98-114) in The Student Skills Guide. (2^nd ed.) London:Gower.

Van Emden, J. and Becker, L. (2004). Speaking as Part of a Group (pp 77-93) in Presentation Skills for Students. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were that the preparation that goes into presenting should not be underestimated. Both online readings illustrated the effort that is required in organising a successful presentation, they do so by reducing the preparation requirements into minor segments and then explaining them in detail. I found these readings to be the most practical so far as our classes are now focusing on debates and presentations.
I found the reading by Drew (2001) to be much more functional out of the two as it provided guidelines and spaces in which to fill out. It was also much more succinct and being written in point form made it easier to read and follow.

The focus on Media Relations in the text was also very useful and the information brought me back to the articles I examined for the Annotated Bibliography. The text addressed how vital dealing with the media is for a PR practitioner and highlights the importance of media releases, media kits and media conferences. In particular the identification and grouping of 'what makes news' being: impact, conflict, timeliness, proximity, prominence, currency, human interest, the unusual and money (Johnston and Zawawi, 2004) was also useful in developing a broader knowledge of how the media works.
The other considerations are the relationships and values that exist within a media network, the example provided by Johnston and Zawawi is the Newsroom hierarchy. Understanding this will assist a practitioner is establishing relationships or at least show a form of respect to the media team that should in turn assist them in conveying their message. The power of the media and the ownership of the key players; Murdoch, Fairfax and Packer was an interesting glimpse into how the media business operates and this in turn provided further education of the world a PR practitioner has to work in.


The readings made me think more about PR theory/practice in that:

• You need to be able to have a thorough understanding of the media environment when working as a PR practitioner
• This relationship with the practitioner and the media runs both ways
  

Week 6 Comments

Today I commented on Robert Lecker's blog.

I found his writing style very easy to read and I agreed with the points that he raised. In particular I enjoyed that he picked up on the quote 'the law is the floor and ethics must work above this'. To me, this was one of the most important parts of the reading as it seems to ring so true and, as I stated in Robert's blog, it links law & ethics together. They are intrinsically linked and not always in a favorable way.

Week 6

Chapters 4 & 5 of Public Relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed.

I think the key points to remember from this weeks readings were:

Chapter 4:
Considering that PR is broken up into 3 main areas: communication, advisory/counselling
and business/management, practitioners must be aware of laws, risks and how to manage them. For instance the torts of negligence and defamation would be common to consider when communicating to the public. In addition, laws vary across states and countries and in this increasingly 'globalised' world awareness of or research of the legal norms should be
second nature to PR practitioners.

A key area is the tort of defamation, this has been put in place to protect an individuals/organisations reputation which limits what a practitioner may publish, while also offering them protection (either for themselves or their clients). As this offers both pro's and con's, it is of great importance. It is pointed out that to bring action in a defamation case it must be shown that:

• The material was published (that is, it was exposed to a third person)
  
• The (individual) was identified in the publication
• The publication was defamatory

The other area of importance is negligence or duty of care, which depends on foreseeability and policy consideration. This law ensures that PR practitioners will act with 'reasonable care' and with the 'skill of an ordinary competent member of the profession (in question)'. The reason for this is that PR communicates not only to the public but to shareholders and investors and other individuals who may hold a relationship with a company, person or organisation. If the practitioner provides them with incorrect or misleading information this may be damaging to the person, organisation or public in question.

Chapter 5:

Ethics follows on well from the legalities of PR as it now looks at the 'right and wrong' of personal values. Ethics is an important area of PR as the practice, like any profession, can see a practitioner forced to make decisions that conflict with their own values and morals. What is reiterated here is that ethical dilemmas (which are very common) are not at all easy to deal with. This is due to the fact that there are usually more than 1 party involved and the repercussions of a practitioners choice may be damaging either to another individual, or to themselves. The levels at which practitioners can experience dilemmas are:

• interpersonal
• organisational
• stakeholder

There are various organisations in place such as PRIA, MEAA and PRSA which have codes which practitioners are encourage to follow, much like a template of behaviour.


The readings made me think more about PR theory/practice in that:

• Practitioners must hold a sufficient and up-to-date knowledge of laws and also attempt to understand or be aware of laws in other states or countries if they are to be working there
• A challenge for PR practitioners is to encourage and implement 'genuine professionalism'
  

In tutorial

Today I commented on Kylie Carrall's blog.
I agreed with the issues that she raised.

Week 5

This weeks reading from 'Chapter 4 - A Typical Public Relations Program', In C. Tymson, P. Lazar, P and R. Lazar's 'The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual' & Chapter 7 - Strategy, Planning and Scheduling' in J. Johnston & C. Zawawi's 'Public Relations: Theory and Practice' provided a theoretical and practical insight towards the functions and concepts of a PR plan. This included examples of what a PR practitioners role would include during the entire process of a strategic PR plan/program. After completing the two readings, it was apparent that the detail and depth of a plan depended entirely on the size of the project, the funding available and the time frame.


I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...

• The importance of adhering to the outlines of the strategy and plan. Without the structure of the plan the entire PR program would not be able to work

• The role of the PR practitioner as 'proactive' that is, as stated by Tymson & Lazar 'finding out what is going on and recommending creative actions to the CEO' (p. 76) Essentially this means researching the entire industry, the position the organisation is in at this moment, it's competitors and all thoughts about the organisation, trends in the industry etc. It is a form of marketing research. This also includes absorbing the organisation's culture.
  

• Good or successful objectives should be measurable. An issue that is reiterated in the readings is that it is difficult to measure the outcomes/results. Because of this the authors recommend that measuring should be a process that is continuous throughout the plan and that if the objectives are sound this should not be difficult.

• Top management should be involved or at least accessible throughout the plan/program

• In house PR Vs PR Consultancies differ in their pro's and con's. Tymson and Lazar place a lot of weight on the advantages of PR consultancies when it comes to PR programs for an organisation. This is traced through from budgeting to the objectivity of a consultancy.
  

I noted that there were a lot of similarities to marketing plans and in particular marketing research plans, which should be the case as PR and Marketing are both about communicating a message to an identified public (or 'group' for marketing).


The reading made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that...

In reference to the reading in Insider Info last week, a lot of the PR practitioners outlined how their job could become quite complicated depending on the task at hand. This seemed true when reading Tymson & Lazar's literature. The complexity involved in the planning and maintenance of a PR program was quite confronting and this provided and understanding of the skill required of a PR practitioner.

Week 4

'Insider Info' in Public Relations
Chapter 11 of Public Relations: CareerFAQS

I think the keys points to remember from this weeks readings were...

• Public Relations is not glamorous! This was stated over and over by the Public relation practitioners that were interviewed. While they did not reflect negatively on their duties, they were very dogmatic about the labor involved and the way in which their role does impact on their personal lives
• PR practitioners are multi-skilled and channel these skills from previous studies or roles.